BRANDING WORK
For my last semester at school, I went big and art directed a rebranding campaign for our local Breadworks bakery.
Before
After
Creative Direction
Colorful, fresh, playful. Decorative set design. Curvy typography layout. Emphasize layered beauty, handmade quality, and convenient size.
Brand Personalities
Friendly. Playful. Shareable. Handcrafted.
Creative Deck
Execution
Website Reconstruction
Social Media
Impact Report
Reflections
Technical Skills:
This was my first time applying what I learned from Google Marketing Analytics Certification. I was able to think strategically on a real business problem. I improved my client reasearching skills by building detailed customer personas, strategic thinking by analyzing the business’s SWOT and competitors’ analysis, and also social media planning from exisiting customer preferences data. I also learned a new platform which is Meta Business Suite.
Creative-wise, it was my first time experimenting with still life/product photography. I learned the lighting technique, food styling, and how to use the assets I created for social media content.
I surprisingly got a lot better at Google Slides. I used to do my slide decks on InDesign, thinking presentation making tools were limiting my creativity. As this was a collaborative project, I switched to Google Slides so everyone has easy access to contribute. I have made myself comfortable with the app and made it a new canvas for my creativity to flow. I think my decks making skills improved a lot after this project.
Analytical Thinking:
I learned how to use my creativity in business analytics. BA is not just about coding, it’s all about disecting a business in order to understand it. As we were working with a business starting from almost 0, it was a blank canvas for us to draw on. I deep dived into the core of the business and analyze their potentials before implementing a rebranding campaign. That is an analytical framework I will continue to carry in future projects.
Communication:
As this is a Business Analytics capstone, my teammates are not experts at creative work. This pushes me to learn the effective way of conveying my ideas and navigating my teammates.
Before we carried out the photoshoot and everything, I made a creative deck. It served as a reference at any point of the project to ensure we are producing cohesive deliverables for a perfect overall outcome. The deck mostly contained images, as I believe that is the best way to visualize my ideas in order to better communicate what I need from my teammates.
I also learned how a deck can save a project. In our first meeting with Greg, when I was explaining to him what we wanted to do without showing him the deck, he was very confused. But as soon as I pulled out the deck, he began to become more invested in the idea, as he started to be able to visualize how everything would come together from the reference photos on the deck.
Teamwork:
I learned how to trust and not micro-manage. We had a really late start due to circumstances, but we never once had a fight over stress. My teammates trusted me with art directing the campaign, and I trusted them with doing the analytical work.
I also learned how to stay calm when working with people of different expertise. I didn’t expect my teammates to do photography or graphic design work. Instead, to meet every deadline, we delegate tasks to each person according to their strengths. This was a project of massive scale and heavy art-related work, but I never once felt frustrated. I guided my teammates on how to best assist me on set or in the design process. I was calm and chill, which might have made them feel comfortable cooperating with me. I hope they learned something from this new experience.
What the Client Can Do Next:
Hire me, lol. All jokes aside, now that they have seen how impactful good branding is to market a product, I hope they will continue to invest in creating captivating visuals for Cake Cups. This investment includes time, money, and human resources. As Cake Cup is a local brand looking to expand outside of Indiana, they need to step up their game and follow the market trend. They also need to consistently post on social media to maintain and expand the reach that we have initiated.
They also need to redo their pitch deck with this new assets collection. To achieve their goal of working with bigger retailers, their pitch deck needs to scream their brand. Right now, it is a plain-looking deck for a potential product. A pitch deck is the start of a business deal, so it needs to be bold to leave an impression. I believe they can even expand their sales and secure more partnerships if they redo their business kits from the new assets.
What would you improve:
If I had had more time and resources (monetary and human resources), I would really, really love to create more videos. In a perfect world, the rebranding campaign would include a TVC video, and multiple reels to boost visibility on IG Reels. IG Reel is a platform hard for people to exist on, so if Cake Cups were able to push out a lot of videos while running ads, there would be a chance of the brand going viral.
I also would want to research more on negotiating business deals with gas stations and restaurants. The assets are a good start to sell the product, but from this assets, I would have loved to create a new pitch deck for Cake Cups. I want to further prove having a clear brand identity can never hurt a business, but rather make it seen and known and sold to potential partners.
Certification